nathan@vitec.vitec.us.com (Nathan Banks) (09/22/90)
Hello, I have been using BSR remote control devices for several years. These are the devices which use existing wiring in the home to transmit on/off/dim/etc commands to devices in your home. These work great for turning on the perimeter lights of our home, barn light, etc... Unfortunately I have a problem with some capacitance type lamps (CTL's). I hope I am using the correct terminology. CTL's are those lamps which you touch to turn on/off/dim. I DO NOT have the CTL lamps plugged into a BSR module. Here is the problem: When I touch the CTL to on or off the light, one of my remotes will go on. I guess the CTL is putting noise on the AC lines or something. Additional presses of the CTL DOES NOT result in any other photon output transitions in the remotely controlled light. The lights in question are the farthest from the CTL (way out in the barn). I have not tried to change the address (I did not think of that until just writing this). Also when I press the ALL UNITS OFF button on the BSR command module, the CTL reacts (turns on/ gets brighter). How do I *rectify* (excuse the pun) this problem? Surely there is some kind of filter I can put on the CTL. Any ideas? Thanks Nathan
ardai@teda.UUCP (Mike Ardai) (09/25/90)
[He has a touch lamp that is interfering with his BSR system] I used to have a problem where my TV was randomly turning on and off my lights. I solved this one by plugging the TV into an RFI filter (one of those blocks you usually find in power supplies.) Ever since I did this, my lights have been working fine. /mike -- \|/ Michael L. Ardai Teradyne EDA East --- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- /|\ ...!sun!teda!ardai (preferred) or ardai@bu-pub.bu.edu
cgordon@vpnet.chi.il.us (Gordon Hlavenka) (09/25/90)
/* Stuff about touch-switches interfering with BSR system */ These systems work by coupling a high-frequency (relative to 60 Hz) signal onto the power line. Usually this frequency is in the 100KHz to 150 KHz range. This additional frequency is then modulated to carry on/off/address information. The easiest solution is to use an isolation transformer on your CTL devices. The transformer will pass the 60 Hz, but not the control signals. This should provide a fix for you. "Real" isolation transformers can be expensive and hard to find, but you can fudge one by putting two standard transformers back-to-back. Get two 24 volt transformers (or whatever). Connect the low-voltage sides together. Plug one high voltage side into the wall, and the other high voltage side into the lamp. Watch your power ratings, though! a 100W lamp draws .83 amps at 120 volts. This means that your 24 volt transformers will need to be rated for at least 5 amps. This may not be any easier to find than an isolation transformer, depending on the depth of your junk box... The "clean engineering solution" would be to determine what's "wrong" with the CTLs and "fix" them. A compromise would be some kind of parallel trap to filter high-frequency stuff at the lamp. The first solution is going to be a lot of work, and the second would _still_ require isolation, otherwise it will likely clobber the whole BSR system. ----------------------------------------------------- Gordon S. Hlavenka cgordon@vpnet.chi.il.us Disclaimer: Yeah, I said it. So what?